As one of the oldest entertainment industries in existence, the music business has seen many technological advances that have increased widespread acceptance. The digitization of music meant that artists could reach any audience around the world, and digital distribution gave people unlimited access to music.
With these advances in distribution have come some drawbacks in monetizing music. The way musicians make money in the digital format has reduced margins from media or video revenue. Artists have been pushed back to generating income from offline activities such as concerts and merchandise sales as the online landscape has become filled with middlemen who take a piece of the pie.
The new paradigm of Web3 tools gives creators the means to grow their existing audience and turn it into a community. Relationships with fans have become essential and have never been closer with artists at Web3.
Marcus Feistl, COO of Limewire, a music NFT marketplace that was originally a free software platform for peer-to-peer file sharing, told Cointelegraph:
“The music and creator industry is definitely on the verge of a leap change, moving from a Web2 model of content consumption to a Web3 model of content ownership. Artists are just beginning to find a way to make the most of Web3 to interact with their audience.”
Among the many use cases for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the most prevalent was the ability to create communities around token holders. The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations experimented with coordinating these communities in a digitally native way. All of this opens up potential opportunities for independent artists willing to innovate in the next iteration of the music space.
Disrupt the music industry again
The music industry has always been willing to try new things. As Mattias Tengblad, CEO and co-founder of Corite – a blockchain-based music crowdfunding platform – told Cointelegraph, “When music videos came out in the 80s, they were brand new and people weren't sure what to think about it. Adoption of these things often starts slowly but eventually becomes mainstream.
Web3 platforms are at an early stage. Most users are crypto savvy and have a basic technical understanding of how to interact on chain. As the space evolves, Web3 music platforms may become a key element in the way labels and artists do business and market themselves.
The opportunities this technology offers facilitate connections between like-minded individuals and remove any previous barriers to community formation. "It was hard to maintain great relationships in the industry," Suzuki reflected, "I was constantly meeting and reconnecting with forward-thinking people."
These innovations are not exclusive to music industry incumbents, and young talent emerging from Web3 can open the floodgates for new expression and monetization. It is encouraging the relationship between artists, intermediaries and fans to transform into a community.
Music innovation gives artists who test new technologies the opportunity to become the next established artists of the next generation. This can potentially reduce the importance of record companies to an artist's success. Many record labels are getting involved by moving some of their activity on-chain and releasing NFT collections.
"There will always be a need for record companies, but I think those that don't adapt to the changing environment are in danger of being left behind," Tengblad said, adding:
Successful music NFT drops show how Web3 can disrupt the fundraising model by allowing artists to go directly to fans for funding. Those artists who are looking to engage with their community and build a direct relationship with their fan base will benefit the most from Web3.
From audience to community
Audience is generally understood as a one-way relationship, while community suggests a two-way communication between an artist and his fans. For a community to be productive, participants should enrich the creative process by actively listening to each other's needs and proposing solutions to improve the community as a whole.
As artists move to a more community-based approach, blockchain and NFTs allow artists to raise funds from their fans without intermediaries and offer unique benefits and opportunities back to the people who contribute to them. Prevailing platforms are still a key tool for community building and music distribution, complementing Web3's strategy.
“Affordable digital recording has led to an explosion of musicians on YouTube reaching out to their community for collaboration, instant feedback, live streams, etc.,” Tengblad commented, “Social media and chat programs like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, and Discord give people , who are interested in what you do, a chance to engage with more of your content, connect with you and each other.”
When an artist posts a new video on Youtube, their community can contribute to the artist's work by providing instant feedback and suggesting new ideas that can help the artist continue to grow and develop.
Actions taken by the community tend to have a greater impact and directly affect the growth of the artist. With the support of a strong community, artists have a solid foundation for building a career.
“Web3 will give more power to artists and creators, so education would be needed. Intermediaries can be supporters or contributors in the community who do not capture information or money.
That starts with clear communication and making NFTs accessible to everyone. Bringing NFT and the content ownership model closer to fans is what will ultimately drive artist communities as it creates a much stronger and more exclusive connection between fans and creators.
“For creators, this means an easy-to-use self-onboarding process where they can create their first NFT project in just a few clicks,” concluded Fesitl, “for fans, it means you can either use a fully confidential service without the need to own a wallet or directly connect an external wallet, which provides a full Web3 experience.”
0 Comments